Red and Gold
by jadedcynic
Summary: Darla likes presents-especially the ones who don't like her. Set after Epiphany. Oneshot.


"Where is he?"

The shout was angry, frustrated, and… tearful? No. Couldn't be right. Darla didn't cry. Darla had no concept of sadness. She knew misery, hell, she dealt it and dwelled in it, soaked it up and spread it like a plague, but sadness was foreign to her.

Cordelia lifted her chin and glared down the blonde whose small frame somehow still filled the doorway. If Darla's physical size wasn't impressive, her presence was certainly overwhelming. Cordelia stifled an urge to push her chair away from her desk, to back up against the wall. She wouldn't give Darla the satisfaction.

"He's not here." The words were benign, but the tone was biting. "I thought he was out chasing your skanky ass around our fair city."

Darla screamed in rage, pulling back her arm and then hurling it forward. Cordelia shrieked and ducked as a metal object bounced off the wall and clattered to the floor, resting inches from the hands she'd splayed across the rough wood. Her forehead wrinkled questioningly at the small gold ring. "Generally, jewelry is a plus." She rose to her feet slowly, closing her fingers around the slender band and examining it. She smirked. "Or is it the fact that it's not covered in blood that makes it offensive?"

Darla sneered. "He gave it to me. His payment," she said bitterly.

Cordelia looked confused. "His payment?" she echoed. "What did he pay you… Oh. OH! Eww!"

Darla laughed, the sound scratchy and dry, like sandpaper over stone. "I thought he was coming back to me. My darling boy," she whispered, and Cordelia caught the sound again. Grief. "But he wasn't. He only wanted to use me. He lost himself in me, and then he left."

"Well, vampire or not, he _is_ male," Cordelia remarked dryly. "At least you got shiny stuff. Most guys leave with a backhand wave and a vague promise to 'call sometime'."

Darla glared at her. "You think this is _funny_?" she demanded, her voice rising in fury. "This is an _abomination_! My Angelus should be walking with kings, with their blood on his tongue and their kingdoms at his feet! Instead, he snivels and scrapes to _humans_!" she wailed.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Blah blah, the world is ending, blah blah, a vampire consorting with _humans_, oh my God!" She put her hands on her hips, giving Darla her best "Queen C" look. "Listen, Darla, I'm going to give you a little bit of advice. Get over Angel. He's not _that_ great. Find another boy toy, make yourself a new playmate, and move on. You've been around a few centuries, you'd think you'd have heard of 'female empowerment' by now. Bad relationships? _So_ last year."

"What do you know about it, little girl?" Darla hissed. "You could never hope to experience what Angelus and I shared."

Cordelia snorted. "Newsflash. Vampires haven't exactly cornered the market on purity and love. Whatever you had with him? Not exactly what I'm asking for."

Darla stared at Cordelia for a moment before a smile began spreading slowly across her face. Her lips stretched wide until her face glowed like an angel. "What you're asking for?" she repeated, chuckling. "I could tell you that right now."

Before Cordelia knew what was happening, she was backed up against that wall she swore she wouldn't let Darla get her against. She stared, wide-eyed, as Darla's face got closer and closer. She squeaked when Darla's cool lips slid against her own, and was stunned into complete speechlessness when she felt them ease apart and Darla's tongue invite itself in.

She wasn't aware of when her hands slid to Darla's shoulders, her fingers biting gently into the pale skin. She wasn't aware of how her head tilted to the side, allowing the blonde to move in closer. She wasn't aware of how her heartbeat picked up as Darla's mouth assaulted her senses.

Darla, of course, was aware of all of these things. Her low laugh punched Cordelia right in the stomach, and the fingers that had caressed Darla's shoulders flexed, pushing her away.

Cordelia's eyes were spitting brown fire. "Gross!" she screeched, bringing the back of her hand up to wipe it across her mouth, trying to erase the taste of Darla's skin. "Bitch, please. I _so_ don't swing that way, and if I did, it sure as hell wouldn't be for you!"

Darla stepped back, an amused little grin hovering on her lips. Her eyes sparkled playfully. "Aww, I'm hurt," she pouted. "I would have thought you were begging for it."

Cordelia's eyes flew open in outrage and, forgetting for the moment exactly who her opponent was, she came out swinging. Darla's coy grin disappeared, replaced by a snarl of fury, and she brought up one hand and caught Cordelia's fist a split-second before it would have connected with her face. She thrust her arm out, straight-arming Cordelia and sending her spinning to the ground.

Cordelia bounced back up, ready to battle, but swore when she saw Darla backing up toward the office door. "Give Angelus a message for me," she suggested, a touch of a lilt to her voice. "Tell him I like what he left for me a whole lot more than I like what he gave to me." She winked, then disappeared, leaving Cordelia seething.

She became aware of a sharp pain in her palm and realized she'd been clenching her fist tightly and her nails had dug into the tender skin. She opened the fingers slowly and looked down. She wasn't surprised to see blood on the ring.


End file.
